Loose Leaf Notes

We’re tourists to our own aging / We’ve never been here before / We take field notes and pictures / and watch the other travelers / We cross our fingers / and look for simple pleasures / We count our blessings / give away our belongings / enjoy the view from the scenic route… C. 

It was a small but attentive audience for the 3rd in our Soulful Aging Poetry Reading Tour. Seated on the deck of the Soup Shop with just-brewed lattes from Chantal Coffee, Katherine and I delved into the topic, the developmental stage of aging, the passage that we often resist embracing or even talking about.

Is This Me? / The one who has patience / Knowing this will change / The one who glimpses and eternal / Beyond all the above / The one who descends into / the well, often… K

Here we were, two old friends that intersected first as writers in the pages of Mothering Magazine in the late ’70s, before we knew of each other, sharing our honest poetic offerings of depth psychology meets memoir in back-and-forth conversation.

I Imagine skimming parts / that rise to the surface / and organizing my life / like a table of contents… C

As our words intersected and complimented each other, the mystery unfolded, heads nodded and a few knowing smiles broke out.

The path through old age / is poetic motion like a symphony / with various movements / A literary masterpiece of mystery / A valued piece of art / still in its creation, not quite complete / To be reflected, contemplated anew / with each view… K

There was meaningful dialogue when the reading was over. Katherine read some encore haiku.

The birds are my angels now / There old songs are new / I tell time through the windows / by what flowers are in bloom… C

Thanks to The Soup Shop for their hospitality and to fellow-poet Mara and others for taking these pictures. Look for another Soulful Aging Tour reading at a venue near you. Check out our first Soulful Aging reading (which presented a different collection of poems) HERE.

Objects Are Closer Than They Appear by Redman and Poetic Memoir of a Nascent Senescent: Poems from My Sixties can be found on Amazon, along with their other books. Redman books are also available locally at The Harvest Moon Food Store and Chantal’s are at The Floyd Country Store.